1m pupils English not mother tongue

More than 1.1 million schoolchildren do not speak English as their first language, according to official figures.

New data suggests that the numbers of youngsters who do not have English as their mother tongue has rocketed, with around a quarter of a million more now speaking other languages at home, compared to five years ago.

In the last 12 months, the numbers of EAL (English as an additional language) children has risen by around 61,300.

Overall, one in six pupils in state primary and secondary schools, have a first language that is known, or believed to be, other than English - a total of 1,109,610 children.

This does not include special schools or pupil referral units (PRUs).

In 2013, around 15.9% of youngsters spoke English as a second language, while in 2009, it was 13.2%.

Figures suggest that there are now 252,940 more EAL children in primary and secondary schools than there were five years ago, in 2009.

In primary schools alone, as of January, almost one in five pupils (18.7%) did not have English as their mother tongue, while in secondary schools the figure was around one in seven (14.3%).

A Department for Education (DfE) spokeswoman said: "Schools are responsible for tailoring their provision to meet the needs of all their pupils and ensuring that they have the opportunity to realise their potential.

"They are best placed to make decisions on how to do this. Many schools teach pupils whose first language is not English successfully and schools will continue to make their own arrangements for this.

"By the end of key stage 4 (GCSE), pupils with English as an additional language are performing almost as well as pupils whose first language is English."

Figures show that in 2012/13, around 58.3% of pupils who had English as a second language scored at least five C grades at GCSE, including English and maths, compared to 60.9% of those for whom English is their first language.

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The DfE statistics are part of a snapshot of the make-up of England's schools, based on data collected in January this year.

The new figures show that:

:: Almost three in 10 (29.5%) pupils in state primary schools are from a minority ethnic background, along with a quarter (25.3%) of those attending state secondary schools;

:: There are now 77 primary schools with more than 800 pupils, up from 58 at the same point last year;

:: Around 16.3% of state-educated pupils are eligible for free school meals - a key measure of poverty. This has dropped from 17.1% in 2013.

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The statistics also reveal that, overall, there are 8.3 million pupils attending England's state schools, up 1% on 12 months ago.

Government statisticians said this increase is larger than in previous years and has been driven by a 2.5% rise in the number of primary school pupils, and offset by a 0.9% fall in secondary school children.

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Comments (4)

What a load of fools we are in this country. If you come to live here or are born here SPEAK ENGLISH. Or have the use of none of our services.

What a load of fools we are in this country. If you come to live here or are born here SPEAK ENGLISH. Or have the use of none of our services.cosmick

What a load of fools we are in this country. If you come to live here or are born here SPEAK ENGLISH. Or have the use of none of our services.

Score: -2

welshmen says...5:24pm Thu 12 Jun 14

So this is whey she was reported speaking in Urdu, getting us used to our new visitor's, as a news reporter has asked whether it is appropriate for a representative of Her Majesty's Government to be playing identity politics, speaking to residents in a foreign language, and failing to cater to English-language speakers. Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, has come under fire for exclusively speaking in Urdu during a local meeting that was supposed to encourage people to become part of the political process, a local resident, said he attended to "see what the Conservatives had to say". "I didn't have a clue what the Baroness was saying, as it was in Urdu. I think it should have been translated into English as well." strange, giving up our Culture with out a fight, can't wait for the next five million immigrants to arrive, short cut to an Islamic state, every one on here bar about six posters encourage this at every occasion they post their Guardian News paper drivel on how WE must, be more tolerant to ward our future Isalmic leaders....

So this is whey she was reported speaking in Urdu, getting us used to our new visitor's, as a news reporter has asked whether it is appropriate for a representative of Her Majesty's Government to be playing identity politics, speaking to residents in a foreign language, and failing to cater to English-language speakers. Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, has come under fire for exclusively speaking in Urdu during a local meeting that was supposed to encourage people to become part of the political process, a local resident, said he attended to "see what the Conservatives had to say". "I didn't have a clue what the Baroness was saying, as it was in Urdu. I think it should have been translated into English as well." strange, giving up our Culture with out a fight, can't wait for the next five million immigrants to arrive, short cut to an Islamic state, every one on here bar about six posters encourage this at every occasion they post their Guardian News paper drivel on how WE must, be more tolerant to ward our future Isalmic leaders....welshmen

So this is whey she was reported speaking in Urdu, getting us used to our new visitor's, as a news reporter has asked whether it is appropriate for a representative of Her Majesty's Government to be playing identity politics, speaking to residents in a foreign language, and failing to cater to English-language speakers. Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, has come under fire for exclusively speaking in Urdu during a local meeting that was supposed to encourage people to become part of the political process, a local resident, said he attended to "see what the Conservatives had to say". "I didn't have a clue what the Baroness was saying, as it was in Urdu. I think it should have been translated into English as well." strange, giving up our Culture with out a fight, can't wait for the next five million immigrants to arrive, short cut to an Islamic state, every one on here bar about six posters encourage this at every occasion they post their Guardian News paper drivel on how WE must, be more tolerant to ward our future Isalmic leaders....

Score: 1

varteg1 says...5:30pm Thu 12 Jun 14

The major language in Wales is English spoken by 100% of the population, but we also now have a backwards looking Assembly, ( I refuse to call it a Government) wishing to force ALL out kids to take on the old tongue of an ancient and long dead Cymru. Seems two different principles are being applied....in England the state education system calls for more pressure to be used to get all speaking English, first or second, it doesn't matter, whilst here our kids are being forced to reverse and become linguistically capable in a language there is no use for beyond Offa's Dyke. Where's the sense in it?

The major language in Wales is English spoken by 100% of the population, but we also now have a backwards looking Assembly, ( I refuse to call it a Government) wishing to force ALL out kids to take on the old tongue of an ancient and long dead Cymru.
Seems two different principles are being applied....in England the state education system calls for more pressure to be used to get all speaking English, first or second, it doesn't matter, whilst here our kids are being forced to reverse and become linguistically capable in a language there is no use for beyond Offa's Dyke.
Where's the sense in it?varteg1

The major language in Wales is English spoken by 100% of the population, but we also now have a backwards looking Assembly, ( I refuse to call it a Government) wishing to force ALL out kids to take on the old tongue of an ancient and long dead Cymru. Seems two different principles are being applied....in England the state education system calls for more pressure to be used to get all speaking English, first or second, it doesn't matter, whilst here our kids are being forced to reverse and become linguistically capable in a language there is no use for beyond Offa's Dyke. Where's the sense in it?

Score: 0

goldenbroomboy says...5:54pm Thu 12 Jun 14

So that is less than 2%. Not exactly time for the four horsemen in the sky. And who cares what language kids speak at home, provided they can speak understandable English when outside?

So that is less than 2%. Not exactly time for the four horsemen in the sky. And who cares what language kids speak at home, provided they can speak understandable English when outside?goldenbroomboy

So that is less than 2%. Not exactly time for the four horsemen in the sky. And who cares what language kids speak at home, provided they can speak understandable English when outside?

Score: 1

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